Thanks to You

Dear Jason, In less than a week the Federal Communications Commission will take a historic vote that could roll back media consolidation for the first time in 30 years. The FCC is poised to close a dangerous loophole that has allowed media giants to dodge federal rules about how many TV stations one company can own. If the FCC vote goes the right way, companies like Raycom, the Sinclair Broadcast Group and the Tribune Company could be forced to sell off stations and open up the airwaves to more diverse voices. Your work helped make this happen. Free Press was the first organization to raise the alarm about underhanded covert-consolidation deals, and your emails, petition signatures and calls helped push the FCC to pay attention. Corporations have used these deals to evade the FCC's ownership rules in nearly half of the nation's media markets. In 78 communities, broadcasters have formed illegal duopolies between two of the top-ranked stations. Check out the map we made below to see how big the problem already is — and click here for more info about the FCC's big changes. Our democracy can't function without an informed public. It will be momentous if the FCC stands up to the big broadcasters, but the devil is in the details. We need to see the final language in the rule the FCC's voting on before we declare victory. We'll be back in touch next week with an update. Thanks for making all of this possible! Best, Josh, Lindsy and the rest of the Free Press team freepress.net P.S. Free Press fights for diverse ownership each and every day. We don’t take money from business, government or political parties and rely on the generosity of people like you to fuel our work. Please donate $15 (or more!) today. Thank you! P.P.S. Want to get more involved? Click here to join our member call on April 3. We'll discuss media ownership, Net Neutrality and the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger.

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